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Homemade Window Cleaner and Vintage Cookbooks

There are three shelves in my kitchen overflowing with cookbooks. Many of these cookbooks are what I call "old church cookbooks." They are generally found at garage sales and thrift stores, and most of them that I find are from the 1950s-1960s (though I have many from as early as the 1920s, and plenty from the 70s and 80s).

These cookbooks are real gems, and whenever I see one, I make sure to snatch it up. Religion has nothing to do with it, so it doesn't matter your faith or lack of; these cookbooks made by the church's "Recipe Committees" are full of vintage wonderfulness. They are a real snapshot of American housewives in the mid-century 1900s. Often times, the previous owner of the cookbook has made notes in it, or has saved other recipes clipped from magazines and newspapers and tucked them inside (as seen in the black cookbook above). There are always a few surprises to be found.If you page through one, you'll not only find hidden surprises, but plenty of bygone wisdom; these old cookbooks are also filled with clever adages and cooking tips, as seen here:

I should mention, however, that the recipes in these books are notoriously vague. Many of them do not specify temperature or bake time, and some list only ingredients, but no process as to how you put them together, as seen here for example:

Generally though, if you have any experience cooking, you can usually figure them out, but they are definitely different than the cookbooks of today. Today's cookbooks always seem so clean and almost "sterile" to me. These cookbooks, however, are filled with personality--and usually food stains.I know that religion is a sticky subject, but these cookbooks are more than just "church." They had a good intent behind them: to share good recipes with friends, in order to strengthen friendships, families, and the community. So, religion aside, that is something that I think most of us can stand by.

But there's not only the family, friendship, and community motivating my desire to begin sharing these vintage recipes with the world. I also don't want to see these unique recipes die once these old cookbooks are gone. Many of them are hand typed, and I can only image the hours these women put into sitting in front of typewriters, clickity-clackitying out copy after copy. They are a piece of history that deserve to be saved.And so, the first vintage recipe I'd like to share is, oddly enough, not a food recipe, but rather a cleaner recipe. I tested this window cleaner, submitted by Lucy Geiger in the 1980 copy of Church of St. Louis, Dorchester, Wisconsin, Country Collectibles cookbook, on many different windows and surfaces in my home, and was very pleased! It is streak free, and gave the windows a clean, sparkly appearance. I also found it useful for cleaning other hard surfaces, such as faucet handles, stove top, and the toilet exterior. As always though, try it on an inconspicuous area of any new surface to make sure it wont damage anything.

2 cups rubbing alcohol2 Tablespoons ammonia1 T. dish soap6 drops liquid bluingWater to fill to 1 gallonPut alcohol, ammonia, dish soap, and bluing in a gallon jug. Fill with cold water. Tip the jug back and forth to gently combine. Put in spray bottles for washing windows and appliances.Notes:-You can use an empty milk or vinegar jug to mix the solution.-An empty window cleaner spray bottle can be reused for your new homemade solution.-Liquid bluing can be found in the laundry section at your grocery store. It is optional to add, but is reported to add sparkle to your windows.-Ammonia is also found in the laundry or cleaner section. It is inexpensive, and has a wide range of uses around the house.

-You can add essential oils and extracts for fragrance. I did a batch with orange essential oil and a splash of vanilla extract--it smelled great!

-Microfiber cloths work best for me for cleaning windows. They are streak free, don't leave lint and hairs behind, and scrub off dirt easily.

When making a schedule I think it is a good idea to make sure cleaning from the top down is included. I always forget to dust before vacuuming. I also recommend getting as much help as you can to get everything clean. Spring cleaning takes a lot of work and any help you can get will be a huge blessing.

To avoid clogging and bad odors, sink and tub drains should be periodically cleaned.

A once a month cleaning with a non-toxic, homemade cleaner prevents needing a stronger, usually sodium hydroxide (lye) based, cleaner to remove clogs. Sodium hydroxide is extremely caustic, and will damage the lungs if inhaled, burn skin and eyes, and can be fatal if swallowed. In addition, the heat generated by using sodium hydroxide can soften PVC pipes, and damage old, corroded pipes. It also changes the pH of water and can cause fish kills.

A much nicer alternative to this harsh chemical is the simple combination of baking soda and vinegar, followed with boiling water. When baking soda and vinegar are combined, they foam and expand, cleaning the sides of your pipes and dissolving fatty acids. The boiling water then washes it all away. This method is a great way to use up the box of baking soda in your frig that is not longer doing a good job of deodorizing.

Every little thing you do helps and the small things really do add up. Which is why I have a somewhat creepy tub of soap scraps in my bathroom.

I admit, it seems a little weird to save soap scraps, but it wasn't always this way. In fact, they used to have little contraptions for saving your soap scraps.

But those days are gone. Or are they?

I think frugality is making a comeback--at least, it is around here, because I save all our soap scraps. What do I do with them?

Recycled Soap Scrap Bars

If you are regular users of bar soap, a family of four can easily manage to get six additional bars of soap per year by saving soap scraps. It doesn't seem like much, so I'll write it this way instead: in ten years, that would be 60 bars of "free" soap. There, that seems more impressive.

Ingredients:
Soap scraps
Water
Herbs (optional)

1. Grate or finely chop soap scraps. Measure the amount you end up wi…